D Wright

I have already performed a star test and using the only eyepiece that works (a 20 mm) the stars were pinpoint. I have made an adaptor so I can use my 1.25" eyepieces, just need a diagonal now. All I have done so far is strip the focuser and clean the 50 year old grease that was more like glue off and re-grease. The focuser is very good quality and is now smooth as silk.

I have been given an old Ascotron refractor on a basic EQ mount with wooden tripod to restore. Has anyone ever heard of Ascotron telescopes? It takes .96" eyepieces which are all beyond repair apart from one. It is a Japanese 60mm 800mm focal length scope and from what I have seen through it the optics seem really good. It was apparently bought in Australia in the 1960's.

HI I am in Cumbria north of Brampton near Roadhead.

Another +1 for Sharpcap pro. So easy to use and accurate. I have had polar alignment of 1-2 arc seconds and consequently got subs of 5 minutes unguided.

I got my EQ6-R in December. I have not tried guiding yet but I absolutely love the mount. I moved up from a CG5 AGT and the EQ6-R just blows it out of the water. I polar align using Sharpcap with a modified finder/guider and can get 5 minutes unguided with no trailing. I have all the equipment for guiding just haven't worked out how yet. I second everything that has been said about the EQ6-R.

Here's my Esprit 100 triplet APO in action on Sunday night.

I made a dew shield for my 10" reflector from a yoga mat from Sports Direct. It is fabric coated neoprene foam with a stiched edge. I used sticky velcro to join it where it wraps around the tube but I found that the adhesive was lifting so I stapled the velcro to the mat. Now I have a very nice dew shield which works a treat. As a finishing touch I stencilled "Orion" on it in white. Looks the biz.

Here is a link to the website I used to make my mask it covers most scopes or you can enter your own sizes for a custom design. Hope this helps.

12v supply, in my case power lead from car battery. I haven't got a power tank yet. Unfortunately that is way down on the list of things to buy as I take the car whenever I go observing.

Here is my Orion GX250 f4.9 with mods I have done myself